West Virginia split their doubleheader on Saturday against Texas Tech, losing game one 6-4, before taking game two, 3-2.
Game One
West Virginia suffered their first back-to-back loss of the season as they lost game one 6-4 on Saturday.
After falling to Marshall on Wednesday, WVU's offense took a while to get going on Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers totaled three hits in the first six innings with a weather delay splitting the start of the game to the middle innings.
Griffin Kirn got the start on the mound for the Mountaineers, as the Red Raiders jumped on him early. Tech scored two in the first inning, but neither came on a big mistake from Kirn. The first run came off an error, and the second came off a balk with runners on first and third, putting Texas Tech ahead 2-0.
WVU head coach Steve Sabins would be ejected following the top half of the inning, while the Mountaineers struggled to figure out TTU starter Mac Heuer.
Heuer would toss 4.0 innings on the afternoon, his only run he gave up being a solo home run to Grant Hussey, which cut Texas Tech's lead to 2-1. He struck out three and walked two while only giving up two hits.
Kirn would stay in the game to pitch following the delay, which lasted from 1:20 p.m. until 2:16 p.m. Kirn gave up a run in the sixth on a sac-fly, he loaded the bases before being taken out as Texas Tech then cleared the bases with a double from Damian Bravo to take a 6-1 lead.
West Virginia cut into that lead in the seventh, scoring one on a fielder's choice and then two more on a home run from Skylar King, cutting WVU's deficit to 6-4.
WVU got one on in the eighth and then loaded the bases in the ninth, before Kyle West flied out to end the game.
WVU pitching walked six batters and gave up another 10 hits in the loss. Dating back to Wednesday's loss over Marshall, it was the first two-game stretch of two losses for the Mountaineers this season.
Game Two
Game two shaped up to be a lower-scoring affair, as Reese Bassinger was just what WVU needed out of the bullpen for the Mountaineers, allowing West Virginia to bounce back with a 3-2 victory.
Gavin Van Kempen got the start for WVU but exited the game prematurely. He allowed no runs and one hit in two innings before he gave the ball to Bassinger, leaving the game with an apparent injury.
So far this season, Bassinger has been able to give West Virginia a lot of innings out of the bullpen while limiting the scoring from opponents. That's just what he did on Saturday. Bassinger gave up eight hits, but allowed only two runs while striking out four, as he did not come out of the game, while he helped deliver the win.
The Red Raiders scored one run in the third inning on a solo home run, before they added another in the fourth as they compiled three hits in the inning, before Bassinger was able to strand two runners. Bassinger stranded two more runners in the fifth, and another seventh as WVU held onto their 3-2 lead heading into the final innings.
That lead was built as West Virginia scored in the first on a double from Sam White to score Logan Sauve, who reached base on an error.
West Virginia added another run on a double from White in the third, before Jace Rinehart singled up the middle to plate White and put West Virginia in front 3-1.
Texas Tech starting pitcher Tyler Bourdreau tossed 4.1 innings and allowed all of those three runs on seven hits, while he walked two and struck out two others.
Despite it being a one-run game and WVU having all of their options in the bullpen, Bassinger stayed in the game, tallying a season-high in innings pitched in the process.
WVU's offense was out-hit 9-8 by the Red Raiders as White had two of the eight hits.
The rubber match of the series is set for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. from Kendrick Family Ballpark in Morgantown.
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